NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday criticised the BJP-led Maharashtra government, comparing its rule to being worse than that of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. He accused the saffron party of being responsible for farmer suicides, as well as distress among unemployed individuals and women in the state.
“It’s been 400 years since Aurangzeb was buried. Forget him. Are Maharashtra’s farmers dying because of Aurangzeb? No, they are dying because of you,” Raut said, questioning the current administration’s actions.
He was reacting to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis‘s statement that “everyone” believes Aurangzeb’s tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar should be removed, but legal constraints exist since the previous Congress government placed the site under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India.
BJP MP Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, has also demanded the tomb’s removal. Aurangzeb is a controversial figure in Maharashtra due to his conflicts with the Marathas, particularly his brutal execution of Shivaji Maharaj’s son, Sambhaji.